Before the Beginning
by ForeverChild
Summary: Many know the famous story of Uzumaki Naruto and his epic journey to be the best ninja, or the Hokage of Konoha. But what most people do not know, is the story another ninja who had lived before Naruto was born and whose story was just as epic. His name, is Uchiha Itachi, brother of Uchiha Sasuke. This is his story, before the story.
1. Prologue

Prologue

Everything hurt. Every breath made my chest constrict with pain. My vision blurred. I almost let out a sigh. This was it. I knew it. I was going to die. I couldn't hold out any longer. I looked at my brother.  
His face was emotionless, stone cold.  
It hurt.  
His coldness.  
And I found myself wishing to be back at home all those years ago. Both of us, together. Him, loving, protective, always there for me.  
Then that made me think of that day.  
The longing stopped and was replaced by hatred. A burning hatred that refused to be quenched. I hated him so much for killing our clan, for killing our family, and most of all, for killing all the trust we had in him.  
A part of me wanted to scream at him.  
How could he do that?! Why did he do that?! What did he have to gain?!  
But i knew the answer. He had told me that all those years ago. Even after so long, i still didn't understand. But now i didn't care. I just wanted revenge.  
That was how i got here. Revenge. It was finally within my reach.  
So close and yet so far.  
But i couldn't do it. I tried everything i could. He was still too powerful for me.  
I tried to summon enough energy and power, but something in me refused. I stared at him staring at me. His Susanoo towered over me.  
Tired, battered and frightened. My eyes wide with fear, legs trembling.  
And for a moment, I was so afraid.  
He took a step forward. He could kill me right now, and i would be powerless to stop him. I had never wanted this to happen. Not again. I swore to myself that it would never happen again. Ever since that day...  
I took a step backwards.  
I was getting weaker and weaker. I took another step backward as he took another forward. He looked so much like he had on that day. So fearless, so cruel.  
I hate you! I have for nine years! And i probably will for the rest of my life!  
We continued our little game. One step backward, one step forward.  
Stop this! Just kill me already! Why must you always torture me with this taunting. I hate you!  
One step backward, one step backward.  
I finally backed up all i could. My back pressed against the rubble. I was cornered. He continued staggering towards me. I was powerless now. He could kill me if he wanted. I wouldn't be able to stop him.  
I was frightened. Scared. Afraid. Hurry up and kill me please! Just stop taunting me! You know i have nothing left!  
He reached his hand out, and tapped me on the forehead.  
I stared in shock. My face frozen.  
After so many years of hating you. After so many years of wondering how to get stronger. So I would take my revenge. So I could kill you.  
Why are you treating me like a little brother again?  
He smiled at me. A smile that i hadn't seen in such a long time. Then he whispered something that i will never forget.  
And then he collapsed. As he fell in front of me, I was able to look into those eyes that were so much like mine and yet not.  
He hadn't changed much. He looked exactly like he had the day he slaughtered my entire clan. Leaving me all by myself. I hated him.  
But a part of me, didn't. A part of me wanted him to live on. As my family, not a murderer, as my big brother like he had been before. I wanted to be free of this hate. That was why I had vowed to hunt him down and kill him. I wanted to avenge the murderer of my clan. I wanted to rebuild it. I had focused most of my life on trying to get power to kill him.  
The light in his eyes went out just before his head hit the wall behind me. This was it. The moment that i had been working so hard towards. Even though i hadn't killed him. I was expecting to feel some sort of relief. After all, the mass murderer of the entire Uchiha Clan was dead.  
Nothing came.  
Just an achingly familiar hollowness punched itself in my heart.  
I slid down the wall as well. Out of tiredness. Out of exhaustion. Out of...sadness?  
I had been working so hard for this moment to come. The day I avenged my clan. It was finally done.  
Now what?  
How was i going to continue if the only reason for me living right now was dead?  
Would i be able to continue?  
I was finally free. I could finally be happy. I could finally go back to Konoha and be normal again.  
I almost laughed. Going back to Konoha. Would they even accept me back?  
Something wet hit my cheek before thousands of little drops fell from the sky.  
I suddenly felt so tired. I looked at my brother's body next to me.  
Itachi.  
The pain hit me in the chest again.  
Itachi.  
My brother.  
My big Brother.  
I looked up at the sky.  
He's gone.  
My life flashed before my eyes just as everything went black.  
And in those few seconds, i was able to relive everything that had happened.  
Everything before the change.

_Disclaimer: i do not own Naruto, Masashi Kishimoto does. _

_thx for reading! _


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Rain poured down from the heavens, soaking everything it touched. Thunder boomed loudly, followed by a flash of lightning which filled the entire sky. The sounds of blades clashing and battle cries echoed throughout the entire village of Konoha. These sounds travelled as far as the outskirts of the village where a well-known clan resided; the Uchiha. There, a young boy of three, cuddled up in his sheets, desperately trying to drown out the noises of death and pain that consumed the night. The little child stifled a whimper of fright as thunder boomed loudly outside his window, followed by a blood-curdling scream. He pulled the covers up around his ears and tried to sleep.

Unknown to the boy and his family, a bunch of skirmish ninjas were quietly infiltrating the clan. A silhouette slinked in from the shadows into the room of the little boy. It glanced around, taking in the room and carefully assessing it. The soldier crept stealthily up to the bed, not a sound was made. A kunai in hand, guard raised and footsteps as soft as a feather, as it moved towards the sleeping child.

The blade went up, ready to strike and kill in one blow. As it fell, the soldier realized something was not right. The blade embedded itself in the soft plush of a pillow instead of what should have been a body. The ninja, however had been prepared for that and without hesitation or thought, flung yet another kunai with the other hand at the little child who had escaped to the other side of the room. There was a loud crack and a thud that followed soon after. Then there was silence.

The mother and father of the child had heard the crack and rushed to their child, anxious of the worst. The mother flung open the sliding door, crying out her child's name, the father right behind her, fear written on both of their faces. The mother looked around the room and gasped, covering her mouth in horror at what happened. Then she rushed forward gathering her son's limp body close to her, crying softly. She stroked his hair, whispering something while frantically trying to wipe the blood of him.

The father still stared at the sight in front of him, slightly awe-struck at it all. In his head, he carefully analyzed what had happened in the room, hardly believing what had happened.

There had been two people in the room. That was obvious. One was a soldier, the other was his child. His child had moved from his bed to the other side of the room. From the signs left from the attack, it looked like the attacker had first stabbed at the bed and then thrown the kunai at the child when the target had not been killed. Then after that, it became a little bit more confusing. The blade had missed the target and embedded itself in the wall. There had been a little scuffle as a deep knife mark was indented in the floorboards. Then one of them had reached to pull the blade out of the wall and had flung it straight at the other. This time, the kunai found its mark with deadly results.

The father turned towards his wife who held his child's body. Tears sprang to his eyes but he did not let them fall. Then he started to laugh. Soon, his wife joined in, though not as loud, with a few sobs added in. They were then accompanied with the soft breathing of a child who had finally fallen asleep.

_Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto_

_Hope you liked the second chapter :). Will add the others as soon as i can_


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

_One year after that night_

"Miko-Chan!"

Uchiha Mikoto turned just in time see a red-head fling herself into her arms. "Ara, Kushina?" Mikoto laughed as she steadied herself. "Aren't you supposed to be on patrol?"

Her best friend pouted slightly. "You're not glad to see me? It's been so long! I missed you."

Mikoto shook her head, amused. "You skipped patrols _two days_ ago to see me, that's why you are on for today."

"Patrols are so boring without you, ya know."

"What about Minato? Doesn't he go with you?" Kushina raised her eyebrows.

"The Hokage? On patrols? He is much too busy for that."

"Oh, so is that what this is about?" Mikoto said teasingly. "You need someone else to bully and Minato was 'too busy' to fulfill the role?"

"No! And I don't bully my husband!" Kushina protested before quickly changing the subject. "Where's Itachi by the way? I don't see him."

"He is in his room, play-." A movement behind her friend interrupted her and a small head peeked out from a crack in the door.

The noise of the two friends had piqued the child's curiosity and he had gone to investigate. It was there, in the kitchen, did he find his mother and her best friend happily conversing about subjects he understood, but did not care for. After all, he was only four years old.

"Itachi-chan!" Kushina cried happily as she spun around to face the child. "How are you doing today?"

Mikoto watched as her son politely answer her friend. He was shy, quiet, respectful, kind and gentle, not very different from a lot of children his age. But unlike many other children, he had something that they did not. This was what they had discovered one year ago, on a dark and stormy night.

_Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and won't ever._

_I'd like to thank you guys for reading and following :). I really didn't think i would get any followers, haha, so thank you. I do hope you will continue to read and (hopefully XD) enjoy this fic. if you do feel that i have made any errors in facts, please do let me know. most of what i got was from watching or narutowiki. Once again, arigatou minna! XD_


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

_(Mikoto's POV) _

It had been a terrible night. One I will never forget. It was the day I lost my little boy.

It had started out like any other. A day just like the past days of the past three years. I would wake up and make breakfast for my family. My husband, Fugaku would wake up, get ready for work, eat his breakfast and go. I would wake up my son after he had left and we would eat breakfast together. Then I would go out to buy food and take him along with me. After that, there would be chores to do and a child to play with. Then I would prepare for meals. In the evening, my husband would return and we would all eat dinner together like a family. I thought it would stay like that for a long time. At least until he started school in the Academy. But that night, it all changed.

I remember turning off the light in his bedroom and kissing him on the forehead as I said goodnight. Then I remember turning away but glancing at him one last time before I shut the door. I had walked back to my bedroom worrying about the war that was going on outside and how thankful I was that my family was safe and sound. Then I had went to bed. I don't remember how long I had slept, but a loud sound awoke my husband and I. I had sat up in fright, hoping that it was just my imagination. But it had not been. My husband and I had realized that the sound had come from our child's bedroom and had rushed to check up on him. What I saw that night changed everything.

I had flung open the door, praying that the worst would not happen, when I saw my son, my little boy, standing straight and tall, over the body of a ninja from another country. I could see it in his eyes, he was not afraid. And with that, all the innocence I had known in him, left. From what I could see, he had not killed the soldier, but even so, he had fatally wounded him. That had been enough, there was no turning back.

Itachi had turned to look at me, blinking a couple of times before collapsing to the floor. I had rushed to him and had gathered him in my arms. I remember using my clothes to wipe away the blood from a cut on his face while checking him all over, other than that, he had been completely unscathed. I had stroked his head while whispering comforting words to calm him down, however I had not needed to. He had been eerily calm.

Fugaku had stood next to me and looking over what had happened. As the Chief of the Police his well-trained eyes would easily pick up every detail of what went on. Soon after, he turned to me with tears in his eyes as he had come to the same realization as I had. Then he had laughed. This was something that we both had not expected but I could see he warmly welcomed it. I joined in bleakly, though not for the same reasons. I remember I had laughed in relief that my son was alive and well, and I had cried for my son's lost childhood. Because we found out then, on that dark and stormy night, the thing that would change our lives and the people around us forever, that our son, was in fact, a prodigy.

_Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, never have, never will, and never shall. _

_I'm sorry for such long periods of time in between updates. Please forgive me. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and look forward to the next one! :)_


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